1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for carrying out fantasy sports competitions. The present invention relates more specifically to a game method of play associated with a fantasy sports competition between multiple fantasy game players in conjunction with a single live sporting event between two actual sports teams of live players.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are currently many different types of fantasy sports competitions being played in a variety of sporting event categories. Of these, some of the most popular game methods of play associated with fantasy sports involve the team sports of football, basketball, baseball, and hockey. Each of these existing game methods of play generally establish fantasy teams that are selected (drafter) by the team owners (the fantasy game players) which then compete against each other utilizing their selected team players as the basis for accumulating points on a periodic basis. In most instances, the accumulation of points occurs as the actual live players participate in actual live sporting events and achieve certain goals such as scoring points or accumulating other performance statistics associated with that particular sporting event.
One of the most common types of fantasy sports game involves fantasy football, based upon the actual games and actual players in the National Football League (NFL). Fantasy football is typically played over a sixteen game season, with games occurring on most weekends within the actual league season. Fantasy game players therefore compete against each other utilizing their selected (drafted) fantasy team as a basis for accumulating points based on actual players performances in the actual live sporting events.
The success of a fantasy sports game player (team owner) is almost without exception based in large part on the skill and ability of the team owner to select actual players that will achieve certain statistical goals in the games played during the season so as to accumulate the most points for the team owner in his or her play against other team owners in the fantasy sports league. Much attention is therefore given to predicting fantasy points that each actual live player might accumulate during the season or during a particular game on a given weekend within the season. Those who have the greatest skill at picking live players that will accumulate the most fantasy points for their team will generally succeed in winning their fantasy league. As a result of this skill requirement, most fantasy leagues are made up of fantasy game players that have or acquire some significant knowledge of the sporting event that they are participating in, as well as the various actual live players and teams that are involved in that sport.
There are a number of drawbacks to the basic premises associated with nearly all fantasy sport leagues and fantasy sport games. One drawback is the inability of a fantasy game player who has little or no knowledge of the actual game or the actual players to succeed (i.e., to win the fantasy league) where such knowledge in most instances determines success in picking (drafting) players for the fantasy teams. A second drawback to most of the fantasy game methods of play involves the long term play of the game that is required in order to accumulate points and therefore wins in fantasy competitions over the entire season for a particular sport. In other words, the winner of a particular fantasy league competition will generally not be determined until the end of an entire season, even though individual competitions may be resolved on a weekend or weekly basis.
It would be desirable if a fantasy sports game could be developed and promoted that did not require significant skill and knowledge on the part of the fantasy team owner (the fantasy game player) in order to succeed and potentially win the overall fantasy sports competition. It would further be desirable if a winner of the fantasy sports game method of play could be determined on a much shorter time scale, such as a single actual live game time scale, or a single weekend time scale, rather than the extended season long time scale normally associated with fantasy sporting events.